Not because of Israel’s righteousness
1Hear, Israel: you are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. 2The people are strong and tall – Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: ‘Who can stand up against the Anakites?’ 3But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.
4After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. 5It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
The golden calf
7Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you. 9When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. 10The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.
11At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12Then the Lord told me, ‘Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.’
13And the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! 14Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.’
15So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.
18Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. 19I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me. 20And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. 21Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.
22You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.
23And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, ‘Go up and take possession of the land I have given you.’ But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him. 24You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.
25I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 26I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. 28Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, “Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” 29But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.’
የሕዝቡ አለመታዘዝ
1እስራኤል ሆይ፤ ስማ፤ ሰማይ ጠቀስ ቅጥር ያላቸው ታላላቅ ከተሞች ያሏቸውን፣ ከአንተ ይልቅ ታላቅና ብርቱ የሆኑትን አሕዛብ አስለቅቀህ ለመግባት ዮርዳኖስን አሁን ትሻገራለህ። 2ዔናቃውያን ብርቱና ቁመተ ረጃጅም ሕዝቦች ናቸው፤ ስለ እነርሱ ታውቃለህ፤ “ዔናቃውያንን ማን ሊቋቋማቸው ይችላል?” ሲባልም ሰምተሃል። 3ይሁን እንጂ እንደሚባላ እሳት ከፊትህ ቀድሞ የሚሻገረው አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) መሆኑን ዛሬ ርግጠኛ ሁን፤ እነርሱን ያጠፋቸዋል፤ በፊትህም ድል ያደርጋቸዋል፤ አንተም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) በሰጠህ ተስፋ መሠረት ታስወጣቸዋለህ፤ በፍጥነትም ትደመስሳቸዋለህ። 4አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) እነርሱን ከፊትህ ካስወጣቸው በኋላ፣ “ይህችን ምድር እንድወርስ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ወደዚህ ያመጣኝ፣ ከጽድቄ የተነሣ ነው” ብለህ በልብህ አታስብ። በዚህ አይደለም፤ እነዚህን አሕዛብ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ከፊትህ የሚያሳድዳቸው በክፋታቸው ምክንያት ነው። 5ምድራቸውን ገብተህ የምትወርሳት ከጽድቅህ ወይም ከልብህ ቅንነት የተነሣ ሳይሆን፣ ለአባቶችህ ለአብርሃም፣ ለይስሐቅና ለያዕቆብ የማለላቸውን ቃል ለመፈጸም አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) እነዚህን አሕዛብ ከክፋታቸው የተነሣ ከፊትህ ስለሚያባርራቸው ነው። 6ስለዚህ አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ይህችን መልካም ምድር እንድትወርሳት የሚሰጥህ ከጽድቅህ የተነሣ አለመሆኑን አስተውል፤ አንተ ዐንገተ ደንዳና ነህና።
የወርቁ ጥጃ
7አምላክህን እግዚአብሔርን (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) በምድረ በዳ እንዴት እንዳስቈጣኸው አስታውስ፤ ከቶም አትርሳ። ከግብፅ ከወጣህበት ዕለት አንሥቶ እዚህ ቦታ እስከ ደረስህበት ጊዜ በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ላይ እንዳመፅህ ነህ። 8በኮሬብ እግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) ለቍጣ አነሣሣችሁት፤ እርሱም እናንተን ሊያጠፋችሁ እጅግ ተቈጣ። 9እኔም የድንጋይ ጽላቶቹን፣ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ከእናንተ ጋር የገባውን የኪዳን ጽላቶች ለመቀበል ወደ ተራራው በወጣሁ ጊዜ፣ እህል ሳልበላ፣ ውሃም ሳልጠጣ አርባ ቀንና አርባ ሌሊት ቈየሁ፤ 10በእግዚአብሔር ጣት የተጻፈባቸውን ሁለት የድንጋይ ጽላቶች እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሰጠኝ፤ በተሰበሰባችሁበት ዕለት እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ከተራራው ላይ በእሳት ውስጥ ሆኖ ለእናንተ የነገራችሁ ትእዛዞች ሁሉ በእነርሱ ላይ ነበሩባቸው።
11አርባ ቀንና አርባ ሌሊት ከተፈጸመ በኋላ፣ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሁለቱን የድንጋይ ጽላቶች ማለትም የኪዳኑን ጽላቶች ሰጠኝ። 12ከዚያም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ)፣ “ተነሣ፤ ከግብፅ ያወጣሃቸው ሕዝብህ ረክሰዋልና ፈጥነህ ከዚህ ውረድ፤ እኔ ካዘዝኋቸው ፈጥነው ፈቀቅ ብለዋል፤ ቀልጦ የተሠራ ጣዖትም ለራሳቸው አበጅተዋል” ብሎ ነገረኝ።
13ደግሞም እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እንዲህ አለኝ፤ “ይህን ሕዝብ አይቼዋለሁ፤ በርግጥ ዐንገተ ደንዳና ሕዝብ ነው፣ 14አጠፋቸውና ስማቸውንም ከሰማይ በታች እደመስሰው ዘንድ ተወኝ፤ አንተንም ከእነርሱ ይልቅ ብርቱና ብዙ ሕዝብ አደርግሃለሁ።”
15ስለዚህ ተራራው በእሳት እየተቀጣጠለ ሳለ፣ ሁለቱን የቃል ኪዳን ጽላቶች በሁለቱም እጆቼ እንደ ያዝሁ9፥15 ወይም፣ ሁለቱም የቃል ኪዳን ጽላቶች ከእኔ ጋር ነበሩ፤ አንዱም በአንዱ፣ ሌላውም በሌላው እጄ ነበር ተብሎ መተርጐም ይችላል። ከተራራው ተመልሼ ወረድሁ። 16በርግጥ በአምላካችሁ በእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ላይ ኀጢአት ሠርታችሁ እንደ ነበር ተመለከትሁ፤ ቀልጦ የተሠራ የጥጃ ምስልም ለራሳችሁ አበጃችሁ፤ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እናንተን ካዘዛችሁ መንገድ በፍጥነት ወጥታችሁ ነበር። 17ስለዚህ ሁለቱን ጽላቶች ወስጄ ከእጆቼ አሽቀንጥሬ በፊታችሁ ሰባበርኋቸው።
18ከዚያም በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ፊት ክፉ ነገርን በመፈጸም ለቍጣ እንዲነሣሣ የሚያደርገውን ኀጢአት ሁሉ ስለ ሠራችሁ፣ እህል ውሃ ሳልቀምስ አርባ ቀንና አርባ ሌሊት እንደ ገና በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ፊት በግምባሬ ተደፋሁ። 19እናንተን ሊያጠፋችሁ ክፉኛ ተቈጥቶ ነበርና፣ እኔም የእግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) ቍጣና መዓት ፈራሁ፤ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ግን እንደ ገና ሰማኝ። 20እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) አሮንን ሊያጠፋው ክፉኛ ተቈጥቶ ነበር፤ በዚያን ጊዜ ለአሮንም ጸለይሁ። 21ደግሞም ያን የኀጢአት ሥራችሁን፣ አበጅታችሁት የነበረውን ጥጃ ወስጄ በእሳት አቃጠልሁት፤ ከዚያም ሰባብሬ እንደ ትቢያ ዱቄት እስኪሆን ድረስ ፈጭቼ ከተራራው በሚወርደው ጅረት ውስጥ በተንሁት።
22በተቤራም፣ በማሳህና በቂብሮት ሐታአዋ እግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) አስቈጣችሁት።
23እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ከቃዴስ በርኔ ባስወጣችሁ ጊዜ፣ “ውጡ፤ የሰጠኋችሁንም ምድር ርስት አድርጋችሁ ውረሷት” አላችሁ። እናንተ ግን በአምላካችሁ በእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) ትእዛዝ ላይ ዐመፃችሁ፤ እርሱን አልታመናችሁበትም፤ አልታዘዛችሁትምም። 24እኔ እናንተን ካወቅኋችሁ ጊዜ ጀምሮ፣ በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ላይ እንዳመፃችሁ ናችሁ።
25እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እናንተን እንደሚያጠፋችሁ ተናግሮ ስለ ነበር፣ በእነዚያ አርባ ቀናትና አርባ ሌሊቶች በእግዚአብሔር ፊት በግንባሬ ተደፋሁ፤ 26እንዲህም በማለት ወደ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ጸለይሁ፤ “ጌታ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ (አዶናይ ያህዌ) በታላቅ ኀይልህ የተቤዠኸውንና በኀያል ክንድህ ከግብፅ ያወጣኸውን፣ ያንተ ርስት የሆነውን ሕዝብህን አታጥፋ። 27ባሪያዎችህን አብርሃምን፣ ይስሐቅንና ያዕቆብን ዐስብ፤ የዚህን ሕዝብ ልበ ደንዳናነት፣ ክፋትና ኀጢአት አትመልከት። 28አለዚያ እኛን ካመጣህበት ምድር ያሉ ሰዎች ‘እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ተስፋ ወደ ሰጣቸው ምድር ሊያገባቸው ስላልቻለና ስለ ጠላቸው፣ በምድረ በዳ ሊገድላቸው አወጣቸው’ ይላሉ። 29ነገር ግን እነርሱ በታላቅ ኀይልህና በተዘረጋች ክንድህ ያወጣሃቸው ሕዝብህና ርስትህ ናቸው።”
